Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-08-27

Call me ~PlcaSancc," I said, initiating
Dan, in order to show my good breeding.
81 am used to it,
"Pleasancc, then. My name is William
Campion. Perhaps you would let me
play to you sOmetimcsY"
In the case was II fiddle. This wonder
full young man could play the fiddle!
Now, of all the instruments Of music
which man has ever invented for drawing
forth the soul of man, IL has always
seemed to Inc that the fiddle is the most
cflicacious. At the first stroke of the bow
/ jumped in my seat and claspcd my hands.
| AS he stood by the window and drew out
the air softly and swcetly, my spirit hung
| upon the notes, and for the time ! was in
sweet heaven.
He only played one tune then. When
he had finished it, he laid back the fiddle
in its case-I noticed with what tender
ness, as II he loved it.
odd you like it, P%leasancc>' he asked.
"But l saw that you did"
Then l made tea, II luxury not OF every
day-Job and Jephthah, who did not like
tea, II were modest, stayed in the farm
yard among the pigs-and after tea Mr..
Campion, Dan and I, all three, went down
to the bay and talked about boats. First
we went aboard the Dancing Polly,
and Mr.. Campion praised her lines, and
then we looked at the Chace Mary; and
when there was nothing more to he said
about either OF these two crafts we got
into the dingy and went for II sail, / hold
ing the tillcr. Ats, after the sun lad set,
we got back again and went home. re-
of pork for supper, and that Job and
Jephthah, who had polished up their faces
with yellow soap till they shone like mir
rors, came in bashfully and sat side by
side, eating vast quantities of pig, and
saying never q word.
Supper ended, Dan lit his pipe, mixed
his brandy punch, and, after courteously
pressing the tobacco and the spirits on his
guest, invited him to play something.
jumped in my chair again, when Mr..
| Campion laughed and drew his fiddle out
OF the case once more.
He played half a dozen tunes. Now, on
the violin, Mr.. Campion was q magician.
the seventh heaven from the very begin
adieu to you, Spanish ladies" which in
spired one with a fine feeling of national
pride and respect for seafaring Britons.
| Next he played, ooh, dear! what can the
matter bc!' a o just then quite new,
at least to Dorsetshire folk. This made
us just q little fearful, and put us in the
| right frame for early in the morning,
just as the sun was rising" Then he
| played "Within a mile o. Edinburgh
town." the most delicious ditty / have ever
heard, then or since. After that he played
"Jack's the lad,'' the song which they
have since made into the college Horn
| pipe" 1t was then that Dan, who had
been Ginning in whenever he happened to
know a word or two of the song, holding
his head, and beating time with his pipe,
laid it down, and standing up, solcmnly
executed something distantly resembling
q sailors hornpipe on the floor. Will
went on playing it, with q laugh in his
| eyes, faster and faster, till the enthusiasm
| spread to Jephthah and job, who looked at
each other guilty, and then softly arose
and retired to the adjacent farm yard,
where l saw them in the moonlight
gravely dancing opposite each other where
the straw was driest. Then Will changed
the tune, and played, singing the words
himself in q lusty, tuneful baritone,
"While the raging seas did roar" Dan
caught the chorus and sang it with him.
Heavens! what ar evening we had! Then
he sang ':Hearts Of oak" job and
Jephthah came back for this, and steadied
| each other, as the song enjoined, with
/ sympathetic shoulder thwacks heavy
enough to fell an OK.
Lastly my " turn came. The musi-
clan stopped, and his expression changed.
| He looked thoughtfully for a moment, and
then, still with his eyes fixed upon me,
began to play an air, the like of which I
had never heard or dreamed Of; for it
made my heart to beat, my brain to reel,
my eyes to swim. Dan resumed his pipe,
and drank q whole glass Of brandy punch;
he did not care, apparently, for this kind
Of music; Job and Jephthah stole away
noiselessly, and, l suppose, went to bed.
I had a strange and delightful sense that
this music was being played for myself